Misophonia: Enraged by Everyday Sounds

I'll eat just about any food you place in front of me. I'll read any book genre. I'll listen to any musical artist someone plays for me, even if I dislike it.

But there's one teeny little thing you can do around me that will set my teeth on edge. I'll sit, transfixed, unable to pay attention to the task and hand, my blood boiling and heart racing. I want to run. I want to scream.

But I can't, so I sit and count one, two, three...all the way to ten fingers. After ten, I know it's over.

I can't stand the sound of people clipping their nails.

Misophonia, or decreased tolerance to (in many cases, hatred of) certain sounds, is a newly-recognized phenomenon that remains poorly understand.

Worse yet, there is almost no research on the topic. A quick PubMed search reveals a few case studies and a handful of articles reiterating the above paragraph.

How common is this mysterious condition? It's not clear. Studies report prevalence of anywhere from 10% (of a general European population) to as much as 60% among those who also suffer from tinnitus, or "ringing in the ear." What's becoming somewhat clearer is its coincidence with certain anxiety disorders. A study published earlier this year reported that 52.4% of their misphonia sufferers met the criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (1).

Experts say the condition almost always begins in the early teens and worsens over time, where annoyance of one sound may expand to three or four sounds. Some also develop intolerance to watching others fidget or make repetitive movements out of the corner of their eyes. Others have a compulsion to mimic the sound or behavior.

It was only recently, in 2010, that a major textbook recognized misophonia as a nervous system condition (2).

Aage R. Moller, PhD of the University of Texas posits that the abnormality in misophonia sufferers is likely an issue in the brain's processing of the sound, not in physically hearing it. Why, for instance, might one specifically hate the sound of finger-tapping on a wooden desk, but remain unfazed by a woodpecker hammering on a tree?

Moller reasons that some sort of defect in central processing-our converging senses, memories, emotions, and cognition-is to blame. In other words, the problem may lie in how our brains perceive the sound, not how our ears physically convert sound waves into neural impulses.

But why are the particular noises that bother sufferers nearly always...bodily...in nature?

Sure, hearing a drill or hammer in the next room is irritating as anything, but why does the sound of something as silly as somebody clipping nails throw me into unfocused rage?

Anxiety is typically accompanied by a desire to escape and avoid. Could misophonia be evolutionary in nature-not unlike the sound of a baby's cries, designed to raise the stress of the parent until attended to? Or perhaps we relate more strongly to bodily sounds because we somehow feel like we're experiencing it, too (like the unpleasant sound of someone vomiting)?

As of now, it's all up to speculation. Luckily, active online groups and support forums help sufferers understand and cope with their, sometimes debilitating, distraction.

In the meantime, I'll continue to jam the earbuds a little deeper into my ears—but please, I beg of you, cut your nails at home!

I have read similar complaints about a loud, annoying laugh track on this program, although I have never watched it. My understanding is that many programs that are filmed in front of a live studio audience (such as this one is) are often later supplemented with a laugh track in order to obtain what the producers deem to be the appropriate level and type of laughter.

I thought I was crazy! I used to go crazy when hearing people chew gum. It still bothers me to this day. Now I can't even hear people eat. I love my husband and children so much. But as soon as they start eating I feel like I can't breathe. I want to scream. My stomach starts to hurt and my chest feels so heavy. I get so internally mad. I have to tell them to stop. But it doesn't make it any better. I have to either leave the room or turn tv or music up loud to drown out the noise. My husband jokes around with me about it calling me crazy. I feel crazy!

Sometimes, even a single open-mouthed chew will drive a nail into my brain. If it's an adult, somehow I manage to say it a little diplomatically, but if it's one of my boys, I just bark at them.
Seriously, I thought I was completely nuts until a friend sent me this article.

Oh, my gosh!! I can't believe I'm just now reading about this and learning that I am not alone! I am a woman, and I can become ragingly angry over any form of mouth noises: smacking food, popping bubble gum, slurping anything, and perhaps worst of all, POPCORN EATERS AT MOVIES! There have been periods of time when I cannot go to the movies because I know there will be someone nearby chomping on popcorn! The only way I can go now is to get popcorn myself and eat it. I don't chew it with my mouth open, but I use it to reassure myself that popcorn is noisy, even if you eat it correctly. Therefore, there is no need to turn around and grab this person by the throat and threaten them with their life if they don't stop making so much noise!! I exaggerate, of course, but not by much.

I have to ask service people, like manicurists, hair dressers, nurses, etc. to dispose of their gum. I have gotten to a point where I can ask someone nicely to get rid of their gum because this sound of it will make my flamingly angry. Everyone has been gracious so far, but it would leave if they refused.

Recently I was in a doctor's office and a grown woman, well into her 40's was just sitting there popping her gum soooo loudly! I turned my head and glared at her with disgust. But I don't know if she had any idea why I glared at her.

I have had to leave a conference before because of a woman sucking on hard candy. She brought out a zip-lock bag full of it, so I knew she was going to continue. Sometimes I can't stop myself from staring at someone who is smacking or popping gum, or slurping coffee in pure amazement that they can be that obtuse and that unaware of how they sound and look.

And children screaming in restaurants has started to effect me like this. I thought I was going to lose my mind recently in a restaurant where three couples and their toddlers were eating dinner. I understood that they were probably unaware of how loud their kids were and were just having a good time, but I couldn't stand it! I left and went to the bathroom to calm down. But within just a few minutes the mothers came into this tiny bathroom WITH THE KIDS! I went back to the table, but before much longer, I had to just leave the restaurant.

The fury and extreme disgust and the occasional desire to actually hurt someone or at least unleash rage on them is always extraordinary and shocking to me. The force of the emotion is so strong and so unlike me that it is hard to understand. I LIKE people! I like talking to strangers, bringing them out of their shells and learning about them. Unless they are making eating noises!! Then I despise them.

For me, it started when I was probably around ten, and has continued to worsen. I've always considered it to be a spiritual issue or a character weakness in myself. And, maybe it is. For me to HATE a stranger because of the way they are eating ... surely that's a sin, isn't it? But I am so relieved to learn that this is not some psychological problem unique to me, but that there are many other sufferers also and that there may even be a neurological component to it as well.

I can't actually believe I have come across a name for this condition. It has almost been a sense of relief maybe because I now know I am not the only person on the planet suffering from this debilitating condition.
I am 48 and it started when I was 11 when my sister and brothers would sniff it brought we to an absolute rage, I could not be in the same room as them and then others in my class at school would sniff and I would be the same. Years of avoiding people with runny noses soon developed into not being able to stand whistlers which sends me into a complete rage, crunching, chewing, snoring, people picking at their finger nails the list goes on and on and I seem to add to it as the years go on.
I have been to therapists and he tried to get me to do exercises to try and tolerate the sounds but I gave up as it was too hard and feel it is much easier going through life avoiding situations
I have my strategies I.e. I would never ever go on a bus, plane or train without a fully charged ipod.

I have had this same challenge for going on 40 years. It started when I turned 11. I have learned through the years that my one sister experiences the same thing. My oldest son has the same issue that became apparent when my second son came along. It is now an issue for my oldest son at college. His room mate constantly snacks and chews ice. He is working with his room mate to manage it, but as you know this is difficult. It does appear to be hereditary. Myself, my sister and my son are both technically oriented by study and interests. I've worked hard at disciplining myself to cope if I can't avoid the situation. My father in law chews his ice so I always ensure he gets very little ice when he visits. It's an ugly punishing life.

Even the woman interviewing's actions and ways of talking annoyed me. She would talk softly once and then the next second she's loud and nasally, banging her bracelet on the table, fidgeting and saying UMMMM every couple seconds. I like the video and I'm glad it's out there but GOSH.

I have suffered with this since my teen years. My mom would chew gum all day, smacking her lips. I couldn't concentrate on what she was saying and it would irritate me so much. Also I couldn't sleep if there was noises. My husband helped me with suggesting ear plugs. I sleep so much better now. It seems that when it is a continuous noise it drives me crazy and I have to leave. When my kids cough without a break it affects me too. I tell others that it is not them but the noise. I have always wished to be able to tolerate noises better. I have had auditory processing disorder since childhood. It takes me longer to process what someone is saying to me and to respond. I believe the noises just make it 10 times harder for me to process. It is nice to know I am not alone. My parents always said I would grow out of it but I haven't. It is something I have to live with. My family understands my craziness but I still feel like I say sorry alot and I am hard on myself about it.

If I hear the sound of people kissing t.v. or real life. It will take everything in my power to keep from ripping the television from the wall,or ripping the heads off the people doing it. It doesn't bother me while i'm kissing someone though, bob

Wow! I'm over 50 years old, and it's finally good to hear I'm not alone. I have fought this since my early teens.

I had a very difficult time eating with my family growing up because my brother breathed too hard when he ate, and my sister would occasionally bite her fork. I would get so, so angry that I would scream and get up from the table. Also, I had many sleepless nights as a teenager because my brother would breathe too hard. It made me angry, and I would cover my head with double pillows to avoid the noise. To this day, I still can't stand it when my own children, who I love dearly, crunch ice or slurp when taking a drink from a cup. I have found it's best for me to remove myself from the situation. I feel guilty about it, but it's what I need to do.

Does anyone know if there is a connection between this disorder and concussions? I had two severe concussions when I was a pre-teen. Nobody that I know of in my family experiences what I do.

Cindy I feel like I might have auditory processing disorder. I've never herd of it till I read your comment I feel like It takes me a bit to process up an answer or a reply to someone and sometimes I have to sit there and think about what the person has said to me. People always tell me I'm slow in how I talk like I'm not mentally challenged I'm just slow. Idk if I have what you have but it sounds similar to my problem and the misophonia thing idk if I have that too like people chomping on their gum makes me mad and when my boyfriend eats I can here him swallowing and laping up his food like a dog and it makes me mad but wouldn't that make anyone mad it's just annoying to me and people around don't seem to hear it or care

I'm 51 and become ENRAGED at the sound of kissing. I have been this way since early teens. I cannot stand the sound of any kissing, including mothers/fathers kissing their children. I can tune out almost any sound (except chewing/eating/slurping/kissing) and focus on a task in the middle of a commotion but then I will hear gum cracking and kissing in the next room and go nuts.

It's affected relationships because boyfriends/husband think I'm nuts. I watch tv holding a remote so I can mute if a couple looks like they are going to kiss.

For me it's definitely both the sound that gets me raging, and then if I have to continue to suffer through it, it feels very much like they are doing it out of ignorance/selfishness. Not everyone's chewing makes enough sound to cause the rage in me.

I hate the sound of people chewing and swallowing food. It started as a teenager and it was only irritating when my mother ate or drank. 10+ yrs on and I cant be near family during meals unless I have headphones on. I know of my sister and a family friend who also have the same issues. I have times where I can almost tolerate it and stressful times where I have to go for a run to calm down. I know for me its stress/anxiety related.

You made one comment that I found to be very interesting. As a teen, you primarily found it irritating when your mother ate or drank. I find this interesting because chewing ice, slurping when drinking from a cup, and breathing hard did not bother me when it was someone outside my immediate family. The same is true today. Interesting.

It's not someone overreacting to mundane sounds. The neuro-sensory processing is different and it's experienced/interpreted as pain. This is very common in Autism and is a far better explanation that the classic behaviorism theories.

I have been dealing with this since I was a teenager, 20+ years. My thing is the sound of people chewing, smacking, sucking, and dear gods the worst of all is someone endlessly chewing ice. For me the reaction is almost painful, and I force of will to not physically put an end to the noise is so draining. I am so glad that misophonia has finally been recognized. Now maybe we can start getting some research done. I can’t wait to read it.

I've had what I considered an intense dislike, to the point of having to stick my fingers in my ears and scream in my own head, of listening to people blow their nose. Now I know it's called misphonia. I also can't stand hearing people breathe, chew and swallow food, hear their stomach juices going to work, pretty much any bodily noise. I always thought I was just weird, maybe I am, but all those things really bother me.

I have a serious desire to do bodily harm to any inconsiderate asshat that goes into a lecture and starts chomping on pretzels, corn nuts, whatever, and they chomp like a damned gravel truck. Can't they eat a damned MARSHMALLOW????

WTF is the point of paying for a class just to listen to yourself chew??

Man I hate the crinkling of packets - listening to someone dig out the last crumbs from the corners of chip packets drives me crazy. Popcorn bags are dreadful too. I am always floored at how insensitive/unaware others are of noise that they make. Must be nice to just bumble through life without caring.

And if someone could explain to ComedyCentral that the short ad they put up at the end of virtually every program where someone types 'ComedyCentralUK' actually has the adverse effect of making some people want to smash the TV, perhaps they would rethink the current preference of how something looks over how it sounds.

I have suffered from this malady since I was five years old and I am now sixty years old. I cannot bear an array of sounds, including gum chewing, lip smacking, nail clipping, any type of tapping, and tragically the sound of my mother speaking. The latter caused me to be wracked with guilt.

I recently found out inadvertently that my mother also suffers from misophonia. A family friend lost her husband and I asked my mother if she was going to the funeral. She said "I can't. I can't bear the sound of her voice."

My dad has a deep voice which reverberates around the whole flipping house and it enrages me oh so much that I have my earphones in most of the day, with the loudest volume. I want to lose my sense of hearing sometimes because even the smallest repetitive noise will drive me to flee from the situation and it's driving me crazy.

I can't stand to hear others chew, smack their lips, slurp or gulp drinks. I swear its a struggle to not punch someone out who does those things. The swallowing of a drink sound and also people that suck water from the water fountain make me so angry. It's weird I don't even know why but just a few years ago it suddenly started bothering me. Also the sound of people kissing on tv irritates me till I will change channels when that crap comes on. It's disgusting! Also those Pringles commercials where everyone is crunching makes me not want to buy the product which is opposite of the intent of such commercials. lol Oh by the way I was diagnosed with central auditory processing disorder just like someone else mentioned.

What I'm finding interesting in all this is that, while the troublesome noises aren't the same for everyone, it seems to fall into a narrow range of sounds that are mostly related to bodily noises. I know we have an instinctive disgust reaction to keep our ancestors from eating spoiled food; I wonder if we have somehow extended that to body noises?

I find it interesting that it's human noises that annoy rather than say mechanical noises like a squeaky hinge or ticking clocks. Maybe because we have no control over the former but can do something about the latter.

And are animal noises just as annoying? I must say I get pissed off at dogs that constantly lick their balls or scratch.

True! I'd rather listen to a drill motor scream than someone chewing pretzels. And now that you mention it, I also get annoyed about the noise of dogs licking, or cats hwarfing up a hairball. The licking is more annoying because it goes on longer, despite the hairballing being more gross. I did once have to buy a new clock because I couldn't stand the particular tick of the one I had. I was also kept awake one night by some repetitive noise I couldn't place for a while...finally worked out it was water dripping in another apartment. Decided at that point I was WAY overreacting.

The effect seems to be cumulative....if the noise happens enough for me to expect it, the expectation is as bad as the noise.

because the original sound for me, the one that first sent me into a boiling rage, was a ticking clock. I was probably about 10, and I woke up one day and went into the living room to read when all of a sudden the only thing I could focus on was the ticking of the mantel clock. I couldn't think of anything but getting away from that sound...I ran into another room but I could still hear it. I finally got away from it by running outside (in Canada in winter) barefoot in a T-shirt. The pain of the snow on my bare feet was nothing compared to the pain of that ticking.

After I composed myself, I went in and took the clock outside. I don't remember how I explained to my mother why her antique clock was on the porch in the snow, but I do remember that within a few days I got so angry at it that I opened it up and broke the mechanism. I eventually learned how to just disable most clocks without breaking them, so to this day, wherever I travel, I leave a trail of disabled, disassembled, or disembatteried clocks in my wake. I figure it's better than the alternative, which would probably be punching holes in walls with my head.

I have a lot of the 'bodily noises' triggers as well - chewing, slurping, sniffling, popping gum, nail clipping, joint snapping, etc. But not all bodily noises bother me; coughing is mostly fine, snoring is ignorable if it's not too loud or in my ear, digestive sounds aren't a problem. The sounds that drive me crazy are in the ticking, tapping, scratching, clinking, popping, clicking, ripping, hissing, crumpling, crunching, and snapping families, along with high-pitched 'wet' sounds like dripping, chewing, and sniffling. And I don't really care much what the source is. Water dripping on a hard surface is just as bad as someone chewing. Branches tapping against my window are as bad as someone tapping a pencil on their desk. Dog claws clicking against the floor, pens clicking in class, metronomes clicking out a rhythm, it's all pretty much the same. In a given day, I probably have more problems from inanimate object sounds than from people sounds.

I always figured I had a problem with being too sensitive to certain frequencies - in a quiet house, I can hear a softly ticking clock or watch on a hard surface from another room with the door closed. That can't be normal. On the other hand, my pain/anger/fight/flight response is more in line with misophonia than hyperacusis. A hyperacusis response is just pain from excessive perceived volume; I'm still bothered by sounds so soft I can barely hear them (although my response to soft sounds is less pain and more agitation).

But if misophonia is bodily-sound-focused...maybe that's not it either? Or maybe it's both. Wish I could see a professional.

No, that sounds like the same thing. Ticking clocks and such bother me, too, but only if I'm already agitated by other sounds. Agitation makes me more sensitive to other things, so once I'm "on", even the cat walking across a carpet bothers me. A faucet dripping in another apartment, too, or a motorcycle screaming by on the freeway at the same time every night. I start waking up in anticipation of the motorcycle, and hoping for a fatal accident.

It is mostly human noises that get to me, but at one time the sound of my boyfriends mouse clicking drove me insane, and also when I was a teen the sound of a spoon scraping against the dishes when my parents ate (in another part of the house). Oh yeah, and my moms cockatiels squawking.

Over 50 years ago I sought treatment. Gum snapping drove me wild in college! The Psychiatrist (M.D.) told me I had an oral fixation. I was working for my uncle, an oral surgeon . The Psychiatrist implied I was a spoiled brat that wanted to be isolated! Pure Hog Wash!
There is OCD in my family. Many musicians too. Time has NOT helped! Chewing, gulping, and slurping are @$&!?@€% to me! Gum is the worse. I have one mean adult daughter that delighted in chewing away as if to dare me to "react"! She has OCD, as did her physician father.

After spending an excruciating holiday in close quarters with a relative, I was beginning to question my sanity. This helps so much! My situation is very similar involving chewing and loud breathing.
We still don't know how to handle or mute the feelings, but knowing they are not some subconscious hatred helps me enough today.

A thousand times yes! Along with OCD, this has "thing" has been a constant companion for many years. In fact, I can remember several times in the last few years where someone was crunching chips in a meeting or chewing on vegetables in a quiet room and it was uncomfortable that I wanted to scream. What's interesting is that there was a visceral feeling of hatred for that person. A completely irrational mental response that goes away shortly. It also feels like the "offenders" are disrespecting us by lacking self-awareness. So apparently, others aren't picking up on our extreme mental discomfort. And most of us will suffer in silence on those occasions because we are not going to tell everyone else to chew quietly. So, "yes" and thank you for writing about this.

Oh my God you described it to a T. I couldn't wait until I got out of my college courses recently just so I wouldn't have to be in the room while students were chomping on chips...not sure which was worse....the chip chewing or the bag crinkling. I'm 55 and remember this bothering me since I was 17. Ice chewing and gum chewing just put me under.

Others do not realize how awful thet sound when they gulp, slurp, and chomp! Those of us that suffer mesophonia to any degree suffer ...! What can we do? It has not gotten better with age. If anything, it is worse. We have crossed wires. We deserve to be fixed!

I'm 38, and I've been dealing with this for many years now. I've seen a therapist for years to help with other anxiety/depression related issues. We've discussed my problem with extreme sensitivity to certain sounds quite a few times, but the term "misophonia" has never come up. Fortunately, a coworker was talking about this today and told me it's a disorder and has a name. I'm really glad I found more information about it. Of all the little struggles I run into everyday, this one is way up there on the list of things that I wish I could get help with. It's not the kind of anxiety or anger that persists, or that I find myself thinking about after the episode, as with some things that get under my skin. However, it's one of the most intensely aggravating feelings while it's happening. Most anything to do with eating will bother me, and the louder it gets, the worse. It definitely feels like the person is doing something really wrong and ignorant, and that they deserve some sort of stiff reprimand. But all of this gets censored before I actually act on it. So I just sit there in a sort of paralyzed silence, cursing angrily at them inside my head, until it stops. Of course, I try to remove myself or put on my noise cancelling headphones whenever possible. This isn't always possible though, as this mostly happens when I'm at work.
The source can be anything, mechanical, human, or otherwise. An animal compulsively licking or scratching, a buzzing electrical device, someone eating, tapping, grooming... When I start thinking about what qualifies as bothersome, it's really hard to describe. People eating, even relatively quietly, is a big source though. Nail clipping definitely does it too, but fortunately that only happens rarely. I've recently discovered one that really makes me see red quickly, and that is someone clinking a bowl with a spoon while they eat cereal. I literally want to walk over and kick the bowl out of their hands, as if I were trying to kick a field goal.
As for comorbidity info, I've also been told by mental health professionals that I fall into the bipolar spectrum somewhere (not severe), a little bit OCD, and I exhibit signs of PTSD (mainly fight or flight response to common everyday stimuli).
Good luck to everyone out there, and hopefully we find a way to deal with this soon.

Very interesting! I had not realized that I am inclined to the fight or flight syndrome. I have Mesophonia which has not improved with age. I have noticed a pattern in myself where I will ask another to make phone calls for me because I know in advance that I can not be nice, diplomatic etc. Adult children can irritate me and it kicks in - therefore I take flight by whatever means.
Mesophonia, by what ever name, has made my life miserable. Others just refuse to understand let alone accommodate me. Not too much to ask for you to keep your mouth shut when you chew, smack, and gulp. Do you have to go for the crunchy snacks when you know it drives me wild? There is no,"getting over it". My only resource is to leave, avoid, retreat.

I saw a 20/20 Special last year about this and was relieved to finally have a name for this condition. I have been dealing with this for over 20 years and it has become worse recently.

I cannot stand most bodily sounds, such as smacking, chewing gum, eating popcorn, gulping, etc. I can definitely relate to hating the clinking sound of the spoon hitting the bowl when someone is eating cereal! I recently developed a hatred of the clacking sound when people type on the computer. Especially when it sounds like they are banging on the keys. I usually escape to another room if my family is doing anything that bothers me, but it is nearly impossible to escape while at work.